Rita Carrey, the well-known singer and sister of movie star Jim Carrey, has lost her job as an on-air host at Giant FM 91.7 Classic Rock.

The 52-year-old Grimsby resident, who had worked at the Welland-based station since 2002, was let go Monday when she showed up for the afternoon drive-home show she co-hosted with Paul Wainwright.

A spokesperson for the station could not be reached for comment, but Carrey said Wednesday night she was let go as part of a “restructuring” at the station.

Carrey began working at the station while she was still a bus driver for Burlington Transit. She used to hand out carol sheets at Christmastime to her passengers and became known as The Singing Bus Driver. She went to work for the station full-time in 2005 and was also on the air midnight to 5 a.m. in a program called Rita.

She is the leader of RCB (Rita Carrey Band) but will be performing solo at the Aug. 9 Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ game when the team takes on the Calgary Stampeders.

Carrey said her job loss is the nature of the radio business and she does not bear any ill feelings.

“I feel fine about it,” she said, adding she had heard rumours about changes. “I’m just hoping, you know, I can land something else in radio, which I absolutely love, or find other opportunities out there.”

Since word has spread about her departure, she said, she’s received plenty of comments from fans of her show. “I got tons of email about ‘Why are you leaving?’ One lady said she can’t wait to hear me on another station because I was the only reason she listened. It made me feel good.”

Former on-air host Jason Farr lost his job at 820 CHAM after five years when the station made a format change. He went into politics and is now the Ward 2 councillor in Hamilton.